


Headcanon: Lucrecia Crescent's Mental State and It's Deterioration

by turkmama (TwoCatsTailoring)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, Grooming, Headcanon, Hero Worship, Human Experimentation, Idealism, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Science Experiments, Unethical Experimentation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 21:36:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21083456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoCatsTailoring/pseuds/turkmama





	Headcanon: Lucrecia Crescent's Mental State and It's Deterioration

I headcanon that Lucrecia, by the time she agreed to marry Hojo and go through with the JENOVA cell experiment, was operating under enough psychological distress for her ability to consent to be questionable. 

From the time she was a student reading Dr. Valentine’s work, she’d been a little bit ostracised by her peers. At the time, it wasn’t a huge deal because she was still learning, still coming to understand the way that this science of materia worked. But as she moved up and on in her studies, and did not come to see the same things that her peers saw in his work, the worse that rejection got. And by the time she had her Ph.D., there was hardly anyone but Dr. Valentine himself who would hire her without some serious misgivings about the soundness of her own methods and work.

Her hero-worship of Grimoire Valentine was intense and he basked in it, enjoying the praise and attention that he did not get from the greater scientific community. In a sense, they fed off each other, her stroking his ego and her reveling in being in so trusted a position to such a great mentor.

However, his death left a gaping hole in her world. Her mentor (and yup, I headcanon they were lovers as well) was dead before his groundbreaking work could be finished! If she could only find a backer, someone who would let her continue his research…! But every door closed in her face and the stress was extreme. In a last-ditch effort to at least have a job so that she could fund it herself in her off-hours, she took a position with ShinRa’s science department.

Hojo was a good scientist and he was bold and she liked bold. Fearless! Confident! But just like Dr. Valentine, he was considered a failure of sorts. He was also a masterful manipulator and saw in her exactly what he might need, though she didn’t know that. And she was none the wiser when he took her under his wing and began to prime her for the shift from all things Valentine to all things Hojo.

Because he already knew that he was going to need a host for his little Project and she was young, healthy and so much more gullible than anyone else he’d found. She’d do nicely.

And she did. When the time came to move to Nibelheim so they could continue their work in peace (but out of the way, because really. He’d failed so many times before, Hollander had much better luck!) she went along as a matter of course. She was confused when he started talking about marriage but was flattered that he thought so much of her as to ask. Yes, he wasn’t really traditionally affectionate, but that was just how he was! He said so himself!

Throw Vincent into the mix and her confusion became acute. But she was easy enough to convince to stay the course. Not to be distracted by the handsome son of her mentor. Yes, he was shy, sweet, engaging. He paid compliments, brought her gifts, did all the things that most lovers did, but she had a mission here. Maybe after this….

This is already too long so I’ll shorten the end since we all know how this goes. The short version is that the introduction of the J-cells into the child she was carrying caused them to enter her bloodstream and do exactly what J-cells do in everyone they are introduced to - they exploit both strengths and weaknesses. Sadly, Lucrecia’s greatest strength was also her greatest weakness - loyalty. Coupled with her idealistic and inclined-to-be-avoidant nature, this pretty much drove her into a deep depression. A prisoner in her own body and her own mind, torn apart with grief and guilt, she had (in her own mind) no other choice but to do the things she did.


End file.
